Flow meter



Jam.` 8 1924 R. w. scHRoEDr-:R

FLow METER Filed Feb. 16. 1921 2 shuts-Sheet 2 i Patented J an. 8., 1924.

UNITED ySTATI-:s

RUDOLPH W. SCHROEDER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FLOW METER.

Application filed February 16, 1921. Serial No. 445,504.

To all whom t may concern.' Be it known that I, RUDOLPH W. SoHRoE- DER, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented vcertain new and useful `Improvements in Flow Metersf of which the followin 4is a specification.

This invention re ates to metersffor indicating a quantity, one factor vof which is the rate of flow of a fluid, and is especially applicable to measuring the rate of flow of the fuel to an internal combustion engine, such as an automobile engine, in its relation to the speed of the vehicle driven by the' engine. l

. In the particular embodiment of. the inlvention shown in the drawin the instrument is designed to lindicate irectly atan particular time the miles per gallon of fue consumed. One object of the invention therefore is to provide an instrument'l which will indicate `directly mileage per unit of motor fuel consumed. The instrument may, of course, be applied to motors for driving loads other than motor vehicles, and in general will indicate the amount of work being done per unit fuel consumed.

The invention also has for its object the provision of a measurin instrument of the class named which sha1 be of r,improved construction and operation. A

The invention is exemplified in the. combination and arrangement of parts shown' in theaccompanying drawings and .described in the followingspecification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. y 1 v In the drawings- .l

d Fig. 1 is a frontelevation of one form of .40 instrument embodying the present invention;l e J Fig. 2 is a Vview similar to Fig. 1 with the dial plate removed to expose the workin parts; y

. Fig. 3 1s a top plan view with;` the lenclosing casing in section to show the ini ternalconstruction; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail. The numeral 1 designates an enclosing casing which is air and -liquid tight, and secured within ythe, casing 1 is a tube or standpipe 2 open at its upper end and having a vertical slot 3 in the frontvportion of the wall of the tube. A plunger 4 is `arranged Within the bore of t e tu e 2 so that it moves freely up and down within the tube and preferably `is provided with sufficient.

clearance to permitv very slight leakage of fluld past the plun er and to insure free movement of the p unger in the tube. A

'pin 5 is carried by the plunger 4 and pro-` jects through the slot 3 and at its outer end carries a laterally extending pointer 6. A light rod 7, such as an aluminum wire,` has one end pivotally mounted on the pin 5. The other end of the' rod 7 is slidably mounted in a sleeve 8, the sleeve being pivoted on a pin 9 secured to a collar 10 mounted to slide vertically upon a rod 11 arranged within the casing l. The collar 10 has a link 12 pivoted thereon, the lower end ofthe link being pivoted to an arm 13, andthe o posite end of the arm 13 being pivotall) mounted upon a lug 14 secured to the rear wall of the casing 1. The arm 13 rests upon a cone disc 15 slidably mounted'on a shaft 16 journaled in a bearing 17 and securedto the inner face of the casin 1. The cone disc l5 is caused to rotate with the shaft 16 by leaf springs 17 connected with a boss 18 on the cone 15 and having their opposite ends fixed to the shaft 16 b a disc 19 to which' the springs aresecure Weights 20 are carried by the springs 17 and Ibve outwardly by centrifugal force as the shaft 16 is rotated, thus sliding the cone 15 along the shaft 16 in a manner well known in speedometer construction. 'It is apparent that the movement of the cone 15 along the shaft 16 will cause the collar 10 to move down along lthe rod 11 as the speed of the 'shaft 16 in? creases. The shaft 16 iscarried outwardly through the wall of 1the casing 1 andfis packed by means of a stuffing box 21 to permit escape of fluid from the interioriof the casing. The shaft 16 may be connected with the wheel of a motor vehicle in the mannercommonly employed in speedometerconstruction.

An indicator 22 is pivoted at 23.0n a supporting block 24 secured to the inner face ofthe front glass 25 of -the instrument. The outer end of the indicator 22 passes through a sleeve'26 pivotally carried by the pin '9 on the collar'lO. A dial 27 is secured to the outer face ofthe cover glass 25 and has ay portion of the outer periphery cut away to provide a s101328. Graduations are provided adjacent the inner edge of thc slot 28, the graduations being calibrated to indicated miles per hour. The end of .the indicator 22 is visible through the slot 28, and since the movement of the indicator is controlled by the speed of the vehicle, it is apparent. that the speed of the vehicle may be indicated by the position of the protruding point of the indicator 22 in the rear of the graduated scale.

The tube or standpipe 2 is provided with an inlet 29 at its lower end Ywhich vis connected with th-e fuel supply tank for the motor. An extension 30 is provided on the casing 1 to permit movement of -the'end of the rod'7 as the collar 10 travels-up, and down on the standard 11, and an outlet connection- 31 communicates wi-th the interior of the casing 1 to the bottom of the projection 30 and is connected through the carburetor -to the intake manifold of the engine.

The operation of the engine will tend to yreduce the pressure in the casing 1 as it draws fuel through the carburetor and the fuel from the supply tank will rush in through the intake 29 and raise the piston 4 so that it may escape through the slot 3 into the interior lof the casing 1. The piston 4 will assume a position inthe standpipe 2 depending upon the rate of iiow of fluid through the slot 3. lt is thus apparent that the slotted tube 2 with its piston 4 constitutes a flow meter, and the heightof the piston in the tube will indicate the rate of flow of the final. The operation of this part of the present invention is similar to the flow meter described in m prior application, Serial No. 334,465, filed ctober 30, 1919.

The laterally extending pointer G carried by the pin 5 may be made to travel in the rear of a slot 32 in the dial 27, and the edge ofthe slot may be calibrated, as shown at 33, to indicate the flow of fluid in gallons per hour, or pounds per hour, or in' any other desired units.

A diagonal slot 34 is provided in the dial 27 and the lower edgey of the slot 34 passes through the position occupied by the center of the pivot 5 for the rod 7 when the piston 4 is in its lowermost position, that is, when the rate of flow of fluid is zero. The lower edge of the slot 34 at its upper end passes through the pivotal support of the rod V7 on the collar 10 at the time that the collar 10 is in its uppermost position, that is, when' lower edge of the slot 34. When the vehicle Aou is running the rod 7 will assume a position .in which it will cross the line formed bythe lower, edge of the slot 34 in a manner simi.-

ramera lar to that shown in Fig. l. The position at which the rod crosses the line will depend upon two factors, namely, the rate of flow of the fluid to the engine and the speed of the vehicle. factors which enter into the consumption of fuel per mile, or the miles traveled by the vehicle per gallon of fuel consumed. The greater the speed of the vehicle for a given rate of flow of fluid thelower will be the point at which the rod crosses the line, and the greater will be the miles per gallon. Likewise an increase in the rate of flow of the liquid for a given speed will raise the point at whichthe rod crosses the line, showing a decrease in the miles per gallon. It is therefore apparent that the lower edge of slot 34 may be calibrated to read directly the miles per gallon at any particular instant, and the reading is taken according to the position that the rod 7 crosses the calibrated scale. With an instrument of this kind the operator can tell ata glance not only the speed of his vehicle and the rate of consumption of fuel, but also the actual miles per gallon that is being secured vwithout the necessity of computation or examination of calibration charts.

lt is apparent that an odometer may also be connected with the instrument and driven by a gear 35 secured to the shaft 16. 'The odometer may be arranged so that its reading will appear as shown at 36 on the dial of the instrument. All of the moving parts are arranged within the casing and it is therefore not necessary to provide packing for connection with outside indicators. This prevents a drag upon the instrument due to friction of packed joints and secures accurate operation. A vent plug 37 is provided at the top 0f the instrument to permit escapey of air when the -casing is first filled with liquid. After the casing has been thus filled the vent is closed.

I claim 1. In combination, speedometer mechanism having indicating means for showing the speed of a motor, flow meter mechanism comprising a member positioned by differential ressure incident tothe flowof fluid for in icating the rate of flow of fuel to said motor, and means connected to said speed` ometer indicating mechanism and said flow meter memberfor indicating at any particular time the speed of said motor per unit fuel consumed. 2. In a motor vehicle, a flow meter having a member actuated by differential pressure incident to the rate of iiow of fluid to assume different positions, a speedometer havj* ing a device for assuming different posi- I tions according to the speed of said vehicle, and means connecting said flow meter member and said speedometer device to register distance per unit of motor fuel consumed.

.3. In a motor vehicle, a How meter comprising a standpipe, a movable member movement of said link may be registered. therein, a link pivoted at its one end to said In testimoy whereof I have signed my 1 movable member, a speedometer having its name to this scification on this 12th day of 5 indicating arm pivoted at one end tol the February, A. 1921.

v casing and its other end havin a pivot common with the other end'of t e How meter link, and a scale whereupon the resultant RUDOLPH W. SCHROEDER. 

